Lawsuit Claims Geo Group Workers Owed Unpaid Overtime Wages

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A proposed class and collective action claims The Geo Group, Inc. has failed to pay proper overtime wages and instead paid employees at their straight-time rates for every weekly hour worked in excess of 40.

The Geo Group operates private prisons and mental health facilities nationwide, including Pennsylvania’s George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornton and the Moshannon Valley Correctional Facility in Philipsburg, at which the company employs hourly workers, the suit begins. The complaint alleges, however, that Geo Group employees have received “straight time” pay for every hour worked regardless of whether their weekly hours exceeded 40 and were compensable at overtime rates.

The lawsuit claims Geo Group’s failure to provide time-and-a-half overtime wages amounts to violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (PMWA).

“The failure to pay overtime to these hourly workers was, and is, a willful violation of the FLSA and PMWA because [the plaintiff] and the members of the Putative Class were misclassified as exempt and denied overtime compensation,” the complaint alleges.

The plaintiff says she worked for Geo Group as a program manager from June 2009 to October 2018 and regularly put in more than 40 hours per week. Regardless of how many hours she worked, the plaintiff, according to the suit, was paid at her straight-time rate, even for overtime hours.

According to the lawsuit, Geo Group has misclassified certain employees as exempt from overtime pay despite the fact that their jobs duties required “[v]ery little skill, training, or initiative”; were largely governed by “standardized plans, procedures, and checklists” designed by Geo Group; and were very similar and subjected to the same policies and procedures. Per the case, Geo Group was aware that the workers should be treated as bona fide employees yet refused to properly pay them in accordance with state and federal law.

“Geo Group knowingly, willfully, or in reckless disregard carried out this illegal pattern or practice of failing to pay [the plaintiff] and members of the Putative Class overtime compensation,” the complaint claims. “Geo Group’s failure to pay overtime compensation to these employees was neither reasonable, nor was the decision not to pay overtime made in good faith.”

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